Browsing by Author "Metz, Paul D."
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- Automated library networking in American public community college Learning Resources CentersMiah, Abdul J. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1989)The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of community college Learning Resources Centers' participation in automated library networking (ALN), to identify the factors which influenced or inhibited participation, to identify the benefits gained and the problems encountered due to participation, to identify the sources of funding for participation, to identify the involvement of LRCs in network related organizations and activities, to illuminate the influence of college staff in the decision making process for participation, and to assess the relationships, if any, which existed among the selected ALN activities and the institutional variables. A survey and interview approach was chosen to conduct the study which consisted of two phases. During the first phase, a survey questionnaire was developed, validated and mailed to 253 LRC directors of American public community colleges located in the southeastern United States. A total of 193 (76.3 percent) usables responses were received. Statistical procedures employed for this study were chi-square, MannWhitney U Test, and Kruskall-Wallis One Way ANOVA to test the appropriate samples at .05 level of significance. The second phase involved a site visit to three LRCs selected out of the 193 responses to further examine any significant trends or practices common or unique to networking which were not adequately addressed in the first phase. The results of the interviews from the site visits were recorded descriptively. The principal findings of the study indicated that community college . The majority of the LRCs had not yet automated the other functions. There were a few integrated or turnkey automated systems available in the LRCs. ln general, LRCs used regional and national networks for all functional activities. But, all four networks - local, state, regional and national - were used for interlibrary loan, resource sharing and union catalog database. Among the most important benefits gained by participation in ALN were sharing bibliographic databases, immediate access to network files, faster and improved services to users, and sharing of resources among network members. Participating LRCs mostly used their regular operating budget and received little or no external fundings. Incentive to participate primarily came from professional colleagues and involvement in network related organizations. Those LRCs which had no ALN reported that lack of financial support and limited institutional commitment were the main reasons for non-participation. The extent of automation and ALN could be predicted from the size of the institutions. Size of the institution played a major role in the participation in ALN. In most cases, there were significant relationships between institutional variables - location, enrollment, collection size, volume of circulation, number of LRC staff, size of annual budget and the extent of automation and ALN.
- Deviant fertility in ChinaLi, Li (Virginia Tech, 1992-11-05)While most Western and Chinese scholars emphasize the success of Chinese family planning programs, this dissertation focuses on fertility behavior which violates family planning regulations in China. The study contributes to a better understanding of the Chinese "deviant" fertility by conceptualizing the phenomenon in a theoretical framework and conducting an empirical investigation of the issue. In this dissertation, the concept of "deviant fertility" is defined as reproductive behavior that violates current family size norms in terms of having more than the accepted number of children. An approach that bridges the sociology of fertility and the sociology of deviance is established. Specifically, the theoretical framework is based on the cultural conflict perspective of deviance, developed by Thorsten Sellin. The normative conflict concerning fertility in general and the confrontation between the traditional Chinese large family norms and current family planning rules are explicated. Three major data sets are used: the Chinese In-Depth Fertility Survey, with a sample of 6,654 Chinese ever married women aged 49 or younger, the Old-Age Security Survey of 220 married Chinese couples, and the Records of County Family Planning Commissions. More than 50 variables and a number of measurement scales are defined and measured. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's r and analysis of variance, multiple regression, and path analysis are employed in the analysis. Findings from multivariate analyses indicate that a number of factors are significantly related to deviant fertility in China. They are: (1) ideal of large family size, (2) son preference, (3) socioeconomic development, (4) type of employment, (5) area of residence, (6) failed pregnancy, and (7) fertility discussions between a husband and a wife. In addition, the analyses reveal different patterns between rural and urban samples in terms of the impact of individual variables on deviant fertility and different explanatory power of the models. Path analysis further enriches the knowledge of deviant fertility by identifying a number of particular paths through which deviant fertility is influenced. by the selected factors. Several relevant issues drawn from the findings are addressed, including relationships between deviant fertility and Chinese women's status, prevalence of son preference, rural-urban differences, and normative conflicts of fertility in China. Policy implications are also indicated.
- Identifying academic subcultures within higher education research: an examination of scholars' careers through author cocitationMead, Susan Virginia (Virginia Tech, 1993)Sociologists ask a myriad of questions about their cultural environment, the relationships which are formed within it, and the social products of human interaction. In recent decades, sociologists have begun to ask these questions of the scientific research community. They have been interested in identifying the social and intellectual connections which bring together scholars and their ideas, forming subcultures within academic disciplines. The present study, which follows this line of sociological inquiry, employs author cocitation analysis to identify the distinct subcultures which characterize the field of higher education research. The cocitation patterns among the twenty-one most highly cited researchers in the field are examined through multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis, and an analysis of the authors’ vitae which reveals the cognitive and social contexts of the authors’ citation careers. A unique temporal factor is introduced, dividing the scholars’ Careers into time periods based on the dates of their cited articles, in order to evaluate the extent to which author's cognitive interests and relationships change over time. The statistical analyses reveal that three dimensions and five clusters best characterize the author cocitation data. As a result of these quantitative analyses, and the more subjective analysis of the authors’ vitae, five subcultures are identified within the field of higher education research: Organizational Structure and Leadership in Academia, Impact of College Environment on Student Outcomes, Material and Nonmaterial Culture of Academia, Student Perceptions and Effective Teaching, and Hierarchy and Inequality in Education. The temporal analysis reveals that six of the authors move from one subculture to another at some point during their careers; these subcultural shifts are explained through examination of the authors’ changing research foci and career developments. The subcultures are compared on characteristics such as cluster stability, and the length and extent of influence of the subcultures on the larger culture of higher education. The unique contributions and the methodological limitations of this study are discussed, as are suggestions for further analysis of higher education research. Finally, the present methodology is reviewed in relation to its applicability to the exploration of other academic cultures, using several areas within sociology as illustrations.